


"...and your lovely family"

by mildlydiscouraging



Series: phan week 2015 [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Airplanes, Alternate Universe - Parents, Cute Kids, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Phan Week 2015, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5226980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mildlydiscouraging/pseuds/mildlydiscouraging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan couldn't remember the last time he was on a plane and hadn't felt like he was being compressed into a space meant for a small teddy bear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"...and your lovely family"

**Author's Note:**

> for day one of phan week 2015!!! the prompt was parents and i had about a million ideas but too many of them made me cry so i ultimately went with this. enjoy!

Before the plane had even started taxiing, Dan was already drafting a strongly worded email to the airline in his head. To be fair, he _did_ have a window seat, so he didn't have to worry about getting hit in the head with everyone's bags as they walked past, but the legroom, or lack thereof, was excruciatingly painful. Dan couldn't remember the last time he was on a plane and hadn't felt like he was being compressed into a space meant for a small teddy bear.

But Dan tried to stay positive, and he made it the first half hour without focusing too much on the fact that there was no blood flowing through his legs. Some aspects of it weren't so bad; he was in a window seat, it wasn't that long of a flight, he had a new book to read, and there weren't any screaming babies.

Of course, just as he thought that, a tiny head popped over the seat in front of him. Not tiny enough to be one of the screaming babies, which was a slight relief, but still terrifying enough. The kid hung her head over the top of her headrest and Dan leaned forward slightly to see that a man, who he can only assume is the kid's father, fast asleep in the seat next to her. Sighing slightly, Dan stuck his bookmark in his book and accepted the responsibility to entertain this random child.

It's not that he didn't like kids. In fact, Dan loved them. He was _awesome_ with kids, and they totally loved him for whatever reason. Probably because he was squishy and non-threatening.

Plus, he figured her dad (who was kinda cute, but Dan wasn't gonna focus on that) could use the sleep, and as long as she didn't start crying or something, it was probably fine. He gestured for her to stay quiet, holding up a finger in front of his mouth that she then copied. As he stretched out his legs as much as he could, she giggled lightly and hid back behind her seat. She poked her head out again to see if he was still watching, and he quickly caught on to what she was doing.

About fifty rounds of peek-a-boo later, the little girl was giggling into her pigtails and the plane was about to land. The stewardess smiled at him much nicer than she had earlier when she went around delivering drinks, which was a bit confusing, but he smiled back as she collected the trash from their row. In all honesty, he didn't remember the beginning of the flight that much, just the overwhelming bored feeling, so it might've just been that he had a more positive outlook now he didn't have the prospect of an hour long flight in front of him.

The overhead light went back on and Dan waved at it until the girl figured out what he was trying to say and turned around to buckle her seatbelt. Her dad still wasn't awake and Dan figured he'd probably wake up when the plane hit the tarmac, so he might as well buy him a few extra minutes of rest. Actually, now that he wasn't busy entertaining his daughter, Dan was pleasantly surprised to find that his first observation still stood. He was kinda cute.

No, scratch that, he was _totally_ cute. In like a hot dad way, with the little bit of stubble and the glasses and the button up shirt a little crinkled, most likely by tiny hands grabbing it. Maybe Dan's mother was right, maybe he was getting broody in his late twenties, or maybe the guy was just actually cute. The point is, Dan was a little sad he'd been asleep the whole time.

The plane's wheels finally hit the wet tarmac and the man woke up to his daughter excitedly hitting him with one palm and waving out the window with the other to her babbling. Dan busied himself with packing up his book and headphones so by the time their row was ready to leave, he had (mostly) successfully avoided watching them go.

But as the old lady next to him needed help getting her bag out of the overhead compartment, of course the man turned back to help her, his daughter standing on the aisle seat and chattering excitedly to Dan. He couldn't help but smile and nod his head along to her story or dissertation or whatever she was saying, only noticing out of the corner of his eye as the old woman clutched her bag close and said, "Thank you for your help, I hope you and your lovely family have a nice time here or have a safe journey home."

Dan, who had been coerced into a game of pattycake, looked up sharply at that, just in time to see the old woman pat the other man on the shoulder and wheel her battered suitcase down the aisle. Dan laughed awkwardly as the little girl turned around to latch onto her blushing father and grabbed his backpack from under his seat to follow them out of the plane.

Once they reached the gate, the man let go of his daughter's hand and let her run through the rows of empty black seats, pushing his glasses back up and turning to Dan to say, "Sorry about that back there, I don't know why she thought we were together. I'm Phil, by the way."

He stuck out his hand for Dan to shake, which was impressive seeing as he still looked exhausted even after all his napping. Apparently he was the kind of guy who remembered his manners even when travel and parenting weary. Dan admired that.

"Dan," he said as he took the proffered hand, "and it's not a problem, don't worry. I was sort of caught in an endless game of peekaboo with your daughter during the flight, so it probably wasn't that far a leap. Not that I would mind or anything, I mean... I'll stop."

When he realized he was still just... holding Phil's hand, Dan quickly let go, but Phil just chuckled and looked back over his shoulder at where his daughter was now hanging upside down from the arm rests.

"Yeah," Phil sighed, "Winnie's a bit much sometimes, but I love her anyway, of course. We just came back from visiting her grandparents and even with other people, school holidays are always a little much." He laughed at that, adding, "She's only four, she isn't even in school yet, that's gonna be a nightmare."

Dan had to look away as Phil smiled fondly at his daughter. He was definitely wrong earlier, Phil was _incredibly_ cute, and a bit much himself. "That's nice, though," he said. "I mean, that you care. You're probably a great dad."

"Apparently not." Phil turned back around and Dan was a little blinded by the full effect of his smile. "You're the one who entertained her the whole time, I bet you're way better than me."

"Nah," Dan shrugged, "kids just like me for some reason, it's easy to get along with them."

Winnie ran over and made grabby hands at Phil until he picked her up, settling her on his hip as he said, "Thank you for that, by the way. I kinda needed the sleep."

"Like I said, not a problem." Dan hoped he sounded way more suave than he felt, because he felt a little weak in the knees and he wasn't entirely sure if that was still because of the plane.

Phil wheeled his suitcase back and forth a little bit before tentatively saying, "I'd like to repay you somehow, though. Would you maybe want to get dinner with me sometime?"

Before Dan could reply, Winnie was leaning almost entirely out of her dad's arms and grabbed Dan's shirt to whisper loudly in his ear, "Daddy wants to kiss you." Phil maybe almost dropped her for a second, but Dan couldn't be entirely sure because his face was too busy feeling like it was on fire.

"I don't-" Phil started, but before he could get any farther he was cut off by Dan's quick, "That would be nice."

They both stared at each other in awkward silence for a second as Winnie shook her head solemnly, Dan blanking completely before he hastened to correct himself.

"I meant the thing about dinner," he said, "having dinner with you would be nice. Not that the kissing wouldn't be also, but I didn't want to impose and yeah, I'm just gonna stop talking again."

By now they were both blushing, but Phil nodded and set Winnie back down as he grabbed her hand with one of his and his suitcase with the other. "Are you free tonight, then?" He asked as he started walking down the long hallway to the exit.

Dan, of course, followed him, saying, "I'm free whenever you are." Before he had time to even cringe internally at how that sounded, Phil laughed, bright and echo-y in the mostly empty hall, and Winnie grabbed his hand with her free one, and all of a sudden he felt a lot less confined.

**Author's Note:**

> holy FUCK that was DEFINITELY LONGER THAN INTENDED.
> 
> (imagine winnie as a mini version of carrie hope fletcher. or, actually, on second thought, a mini [whitney](http://galaxyphan.tumblr.com). either way is true.)
> 
> thanks, hope you enjoyed!! im v excited for the rest of the week, im gonna try and do all of them this time.
> 
> tumblr @[dweebhowell](http://dweebhowell.tumblr.com)


End file.
